Encounters
by Qihotex
Summary: A series of encounters between Lara Croft, itinerant tomb raider, and assorted vampire slayers.
1. Working Vacation

**Disclaimer:** This is a derivative work using characters and intellectual property belonging to Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, Fox Television, and Eidos and probably others. No claim of ownership is made. But the idea for this short fic **is** mine.  
**When/Spoilers:** Post BtVS Season 7 / Tomb Raider (game and movies)(post Angel of Darkness and Cradle of Life)  
**Rating:** PG-13 for Action Violence and Some Sensuality  
**Distribution:** TtH, atbvs.creative, ff.net, and my blog fanfic pages. Otherwise-ask.

**Summary:** Sometimes even big girls need a little Faith. 

**Author's Notes:** See end of chapter  


* * *

**Working Vacation**

**Part I**

Lara Croft did not take vacations. Especially not for health reasons. She thought this as she left her doctor's office. She thought this as Hillary packed her bags and made her reservations at a resort in the US. She thought this as she boarded the plane at Heathrow. She thought this as turbulance over the Atlantic made even First Class uncomfortable. She continued to think this as she climbed into the BMW X5 that was waiting for her at Logan Airport in Boston. She was still thinking this two hours later as she checked into the Mt. Washington Hotel and was shown to her room. 

Even a seasoned adventurer needs sleep occasionally. After a quick dinner in the main dining room, Lara collapsed gratefully on the bed in her suite, too tired to make plans for the next day. 

Returning from a short run the next morning, Lara found one small package and several larger ones from Hillary waiting for her at the front desk. With the assistance of a bored bellhop, Lara took the packages up to her suite. 

Opening the smaller package once she was alone, Lara found a large envelope and a note from Hillary that said, 
    
    
    _
     Lara,
    
     I hope you are enjoying your vacation. Please see the enclosed 
     envelope for alternate activities when you become bored. 
    _
    

Since a Croft on vacation in a sleepy mountain resort was boredom personified, Lara immediately opened the envelope. Inside was one of Hillary's standard project portfolios, containing a map, a number of arial photographs, and an outline of the interesting facts concerning the project. Lara put this aside and opened the larger of the other two packages to find that, among other things, it contained a number of her favorite tomb raiding tools. Lara grinned. Things were starting to look up. 

She wasn't sure how he'd managed it but spread out in front of her were a pair of her favorite pistols, one of her favorite knives, the eclectic set of electronics she now took on every trip, and several types of amunition for a variety of conditions. Completing the collection was a set of solar powered rechargable torches, a couple of all weather flares, an assortment of cameras and other kinds of site monitoring equipment. 

Opening the second large box, Lara found a variety of clothes appropriate for her chosen profession and the spring weather in a sturdy case. The gem of the collection was a semi-stylish version of the black kevlar bodysuit she'd become fond of. At the bottom of the case was a lightweight First Aid kit filled with the usual assortment of bandages, quick acting poison antidotes and ointments. 

Connecting the special camera phone Bryce had included to her travel hardened sub-notebook, Lara briefly tested the setup by dialing a local ISP and connecting to the e-mail server back in Croft Manor and downloading her e-mail for the past two days. Happy with the results Lara switched over to the hotel's internal wifi network and, setting up a secure connection to the video conferencing server back in Croft Manor, paged Bryce and Hillary. 

"I'm assuming you have everything?" Hillary asked as soon as he appeared within camera range. 

"Yes. Except an explanation." Lara growled. 

"An explanation?" 

"Yes. An explanation. This site," She waved the project folder at the camera, "is over an hour from here." 

"It was Hillary's idea." muttered Bryce. 

Hillary gave Bryce a dirty look as he began. "We thought it would be more relaxing. That site is just enough of a challenge that you should be able to relax exploring it in the morning and spend the afternoon at the beach. And then you can spend the rest of the week relaxing in the mountains. The perfect vacation." Hillary grinned at her. 

"And the reason for the night vision gear and other things you sent me?" Lara enquired with a raised eyebrow. 

"Well...", Hillary began nervously, "there have been a few unexplained occurrences at night there recently. The owners agreed to let you have free access to the site if you agreed to check them out." 

"And these unexplained occurrences are what exactly?" 

"Strange symbols appearing on rocks, people hearing voices, strange lights, that sort of thing." 

"I didn't see any pictures of any unusual symbols." 

"They apparently disappeared before they could take photographs of them." 

"So basically, you're telling me that this 'American Stonehenge' is haunted and they want my professional opinion? For free?" 

"Yes." 

"Okay." Lara grimaced and Bryce looked like he wanted to be elsewhere as she continued in the tone of voice she normally used with bureacrats who were annoying her, "I'll take a look. But I think we need to talk about your recent project choices when I get back. Is there anything else?" 

"No." He smiled at her like a motivational coach. "Have fun tomorrow." 

Lara growled at him and left the video conference, forcefully closing her laptop in annoyance. 

* * *

Lara headed south first thing in the morning, dodging the local wildlife as she went. She had no desire to be that close to a moose ever again. Two hours and several cups of atrocious American coffee later she was in North Salem, NH. 

After chatting with her for a few minutes, the Visitors Center manager gave Lara the self guided tour map and pointed her in the direction of the stone structure. 

Lara found it interesting in the same way she found a stone fence in the middle of an empty pasture interesting. Compared to the archeological sites she normally explored there really wasn't much to it. Just a bunch of rocks. Sure, there was something that looked like an altar and several rock chambers but nothing that really cried out for her unique talents. 

Before leaving Lara filmed the entire site. She planned on repeating the procedure later that night. And hopefully she would be able to observe the strange lights also. Maybe Bryce could make something of it all. At the very least it would keep him out of her hair for the rest of the week. 

Lara spent the rest of the day driving up the coast on Route 1, occasionally stopping at places like Nubble Light and Long Sands to look out at the ocean. Hillary had obviously had good intentions Lara grudgingly admitted but someone should tell him that early April in New England was not really warm enough to do more than get your feet cold and wet if you walked on the beach. 

After a casual dinner at one of the multitude of seafood restaurants along the coast, Lara headed back to New Hampshire, arriving in North Salem with just enough light to start setting up her equipment. She placed several different cameras in unobtrusive locations, giving her complete coverage of the site in both the visible and infrared spectrums. A number of small motion sensors and microphones were intended to provide additional information about the night's expected activities. A final touch was one of Bryce's new toys, a small radar scanner that would hopefully provide a unique view of the area and its companion energy detector. 

Lara thought this was all overkill for what sounded like a simple ghost, but she wasn't the one who would have to spend weeks analyzing the information she collected. 

Once everything was in place, Lara changed into her kevlar body suit, black gloves, boots, and a black hood. Arming herself with her guns and other weapons in special quick release pockets, Lara was essentially invisible. The electronics were all on automatic, sending their signals to be recorded by a number of devices in her X5, which she'd parked unobtrusively a mile down the road. She wasn't expecting any company but there was no reason to be careless. 

Perched unobtrusively in a tree with a view of the altar and several of the rock chambers, Lara put on her night vision goggles and made herself as comfortable as possible, settling in for the night. 

Just before midnight Lara was startled by a green glow approaching the altar from the other side of the site. An orange glow joined it there from her left. There were a number of strange figures gathered around the altar chanting in a strange guttural language. She hoped the cameras and microphones were getting everything, the figures were indistinct from her viewpoint. 

This continued for an hour before the chanting ceased and the figures retreated back into the woods. Lara waited another hour before climbing down out of the tree. Carefully making her way to the altar, Lara examined it for any evidence of the activities she'd observed earlier. There were a number of strange symbols decorating the edges of the altar. They were already starting to fade as Lara quickly recorded them with her small digital camera. 

In the early dawn, after checking her equipment to make sure it was still functioning, and leaving it in place until she'd had a chance to review what it had recorded, Lara headed towards her vehicle to change back into her regular clothes with the intent to head to a local diner she'd noticed the previous day for a much needed breakfast. 

Approaching her X5 from the rear, Lara came to a surprised stop as she came around to the driver's side. The driver's door was open, and sitting there, with her combat boot covered feet dangling out of the door, was a young woman, dressed in dark leather, her dark brown hair tied back, sharpening a short stick with a deadly looking knife. Lara instinctively reached for her pistols, stopping when she was addressed directly by the woman in a low, sultry voice that promised either death or sex, or possibly both. 

"You have some interesting toys here Lady Croft." she purred as she slid out of the X5 and stepped in front of Lara. 

* * *

**Part II**

For one of the few times in her varied and checkered life, Lara Croft couldn't quite decide how to deal with someone. Said someone being the young woman sitting across from her at the small diner on the outskirts of North Salem, NH who was on her third helping of the diner's breakfast special. She'd dealt with a lot of unusual people during her long career but there was something different about this one that she couldn't quite pin down. 

Other than a few stray comments about the local inhabitants and directions to the diner they were now eating in, Lara had not gotten any real information out of her since they'd left the site, not even a name. Lara, on the other hand, found herself being quizzed about the creatures that had been guarding the caves Pandora's Box had been hidden in. It bothered her that this woman knew who she was and apparently even knew some things that weren't public knowledge. 

And she didn't think even Bryce was good enough to dig up information about someone with the description she could give him of her. He was liable to become comatose in shock if she even tried. Dangerous, dresses in leather, and 'deep sexy voice' where not things normally stored away in the government records and police files he would need to search. Maybe she'd been caught by one of the cameras? 

"You were lucky last night." the woman said, finally setting down her fork and signalling the waitress for more coffee. 

"What do you mean?" 

"If the wind had been blowing in a different direction they would have found you up in that tree. That little super-hero outfit you were wearing might be good for a lot of things, some of which are probably even legal, but it doesn't mask your scent." 

"How do you know that?" asked a puzzled Lara. 

The woman tapped her nose. "Even I could smell you, and as nice as other people might think you smell, the company you were keeping last night would have just been annoyed at the interruption and would have shared their feelings with you." She frowned. "And they aren't exactly the touchy-feely type. More like the 'suck the marrow from your bones' type." 

"Why were you there last night?" Lara asked, not really expecting an answer and ignoring the confusing marrow comment. 

"I have some business to discuss with your friends. You'll want to stay away from there tonight. Might get a little messy." Lara shivered at the predatory look that crossed her face at that moment. 

"And if I go there anyway?" 

"Up a tree will probably be the safest place." She grinned. "Just make sure you take care of the smell this time." 

"And where will you be?" 

"Where the action is." She pulled a business card out of a pocket and quickly wrote something on the back of it before handing it to Lara. "Have your geek boy put copies of all the stuff from last night at this address. Before lunch so someone can take a look at it. Without editing it, as raw as possible." 

"What are you going to do with it?" 

"Me? Nothing. I know enough to ask the experts. My geeks will take a look at it and tell me what I need to know for tonight." She stood up, threw a couple twenties on the table and sauntered out into the morning sun, leaving Lara staring at the simple business card that, in addition to a small embossed hourglass symbol on the back, now obscured by an Internet address, had three lines printed on the front: "Faith", "Special Projects", and an e-mail address. 

* * *

Lara didn't bother heading back to her hotel, instead finding a local Holiday Inn with the intent of catching a few hours sleep while Bryce and Hillary investigated her mystery woman. Hopefully the information she'd sent them after breakfast along with all of the information gathered by the sensors at the site the previous night would be enough. 

Lara slept fitfully, her slumber interrupted by dreams of strange women dressed in leather watching her intently. After several hours of this, more exhausted than when she'd started, Lara crawled out of bed to call Bryce and Hillary to check their progress. 

"What can you tell me about her?" Lara asked with an encouraging tone. 

"Nothing much really." Hillary answered. "That just isn't enough to search with." 

"That wasn't nothing!" Lara could hear Bryce complain in the background. "I'm sure it'll lead somewhere." 

"It's not enough!" Hillary hissed back at him. Lara could tell they'd been arguing for a number of minutes about the value of what they'd discovered. 

"Okay, what did you discover that counts as nothing much?" Lara ground out, her exhaustion making it harder to keep a sense of humour about Hillary and Bryce's perpetual bickering. 

"Go ahead..." Hillary muttered to Bryce. 

"Well... the e-mail address? It's for a research company in Cleveland, Ohio." Lara thought Bryce sounded like an over eager puppy. She couldn't see him but she could just imagine the expression on Hillary's face. 

"And?" Lara prompted. 

"That other address? It might be at another research company in London. I couldn't get any further than that." Bryce sounded embarrassed to Lara's experienced ear. "They've got very good security." 

"In other words, they caught you before you had a chance to look around?" Lara chuckled. 

"Yes..." 

Lara heard Hillary in the background again, prodding Bryce to tell her what had happened to his computer when they discovered him attempting to hack into theirs. 

"Okay. You came give me details later, if they are important. Anything else? Did you get a picture of her?" 

"No." They both answered before Bryce continued, "You can tell someone else was there from the energy scanner but they don't show up anywhere else. She must have seen you setting up the cameras and microphones." 

"I'd assumed that. I would never have known she was there if she hadn't been waiting for me." Lara replied. "Go ahead and wrap up all of the sensor data and put it where she asked." 

"Are you sure about that Lara?" Hillary asked hesitantly. 

"Yes. And Bryce..." 

"Yes Lara?" 

"Keep looking at the sensor data. If you find anything interesting let me know. And if you have a chance, see if you can find a connection between those two companies." 

"Will do." 

"I'll talk with you both later." and with that Lara put away her phone and went back to bed in an attempt to get a few more hours of sleep. 

* * *

After a quick lunch and after checking in with Hillary, Lara spent the afternoon down near Boston. Hillary had found a small firm that specialized in personal stealth technology that was willing to provide her with a few items to enhance the ability of her body suit to mask her presence. They'd agreed with Faith's casual assessment that it needed to mask her scent, something they were able to accomplish with a few modifications. 

Happy with the results, Lara headed back to the site. She wanted to take a look around during daylight. As she drove there she contemplated the size of the population implied by the amount of local traffic. The site had seemed so isolated the day before. But here was evidence to the contrary. She obviously wouldn't be able to use her preferred gun configuration at the site if it became necessary without attracting undesirable attention. 

There wasn't anything at the site to indicate the previous nights' activities. If she hadn't seen it and her equipment recorded it, Lara wouldn't have believed the earlier reports. 

The diner was busy but Lara had no desire to go elsewhere. She wasn't here for the food. She wasn't really surprised when she was joined by Faith just as she was about to order. The woman just grinned at her and when Lara was done ordered several of the evening's specials for herself. Looking her over, Lara couldn't figure out where it all went if she ate like that all the time. 

"Like what you see?" Faith purred in her low voice, startling Lara. 

"You're not my type." Lara snapped back. Two could play that game she thought though she wasn't sure exactly if they were playing from the same deck. 

Faith shrugged off her reply with a sexy grin that disturbed Lara with its intimacy. "A shame. It could have been fun." 

Okay, whatever the game had been it certainly wasn't what she'd thought and there really wasn't time to figure it out, Lara thought before addressing the woman sitting on the other side of the booth. "Were your people able to get anything from the information from last night?" 

"They were a little jealous of your toys but there really wasn't much there." She pulled several photographs from a bag Lara hadn't seen earlier. "But these were very helpful." 

"You found someone who could translate that?" Lara asked. It wasn't a language Lara was familiar with and Bryce had been mystified by the strange markings. None of his usual translator programs had worked. 

"Yes." She half winked at Lara. "My geeks said they'll give you something to translate it with if your geek stops trying to hack into their computers." 

"I'll see that he gets the message." Bryce could be stubborn about such things but Lara didn't think he would object in this case. 

"Good. Otherwise they'll probably visit him in person." She looked at Lara with a slight deadly grin. "Not something I would encourage. Even I stay out of their way when they are in that kind of mood." 

At this point, before Lara had a chance to respond, their food arrived, effectively ending any conversation. 

* * *

Faith directed her to park where she had the previous night, stating that it was best if they walked in. After grinning and commenting about Lara's taste in stealth-wear in the same low, sexy voice from the morning, she gave Lara some privacy for several minutes so she could get into her body suit. 

She watched for a minute as Lara fitted low profile silencers to her pistols. "Those aren't going to do much good unless you have silver bullets. And even silver isn't going to kill them. It'll just slow them down." 

"What will?" Lara asked, raising an eyebrow before loading her pistols with the special silver rounds Hillary had sent her. 

"These babies need something more personal." she said, pulling her knife from a hidden location and testing the edge. "Let's go find you another tree." And with that Faith hid her knife again and headed towards the site without looking back to see if Lara was following her. 

* * *

"You can watch but you need to stay in that tree." She firmly told Lara after watching her check her equipment. "I know you like being in charge but this isn't your normal situation. This is my party. And I'm sure there are a few people who would be upset with both of us if you got yourself killed." 

Lara grimaced in annoyance but there was something about this young woman that kept her from arguing about it. "Okay. But you owe me an explanation when this is over." 

"Not a problem. If we're both alive tomorrow I'll explain everything." With that comment hanging in the air, she disappeared into the trees. 

Thinking about it later, Lara wasn't sure what really happened that night. It had seemed to happen the same as the previous night, up until when the figures standing around the altar began to chant. It was at this point that they were interrupted by the appearance of Faith in their midst. 

She said something to them and there was a quick and brutal fight that Lara was too far away to see clearly, with Faith the only one standing at the end. 

"You can come down now." she called to Lara. 

Lara was surprised at what she found. A slightly bruised and battered Faith was leaning against the altar. Whatever she had been fighting was gone, leaving a faint odor tinged with ozone behind. 

"Where did they go?" 

"You know how it is. The bad guys run away when they lose. They won't be back." 

"And that's it?" 

"Yes. Short and sweet." Faith stretched, hissing in obvious pain. Apparently it hadn't been that simple. "Why don't we pack up your toys and get out of here. You can drop me off at my hotel on your way north. Your ghost problem is taken care of. Enjoy the rest of your vacation." 

"And you?" Lara asked curiously. 

"Places to be. Potential damsels in distress to rescue." and she stretched again, this time in that blatantly predatory manner Lara had noticed earlier that was halfway between sex and death. 

* * *

**Part III**

The rest of Lara's vacation passed in a rather uneventful fashion. Even crossing the border for a two day visit to Canada at the end of her trip hadn't been a problem thanks to her British passport. And Montreal was that rare treat for her in recent years, a French speaking metropolis where she wasn't the target of some overzealous official out to make political hay from her visit, no matter how unobtrusive she normally tried to be. 

After a leisurely drive down to Boston, and after arranging for the equipment Hillary had sent her to be shipped back to Croft Manor, Lara dropped her rented X5 off at the rental counter before heading to the British Airways check-in. Her late evening flight was the last one until the next day and was already in the midst of boarding when she casually sauntered up to the gate ticket, carry-on, and laptop in hand. 

First Class was almost empty for the flight, with only several minor celebrities and the normal complement of business executives. With the number of empty seats, Lara was surprised to find two women in the seats across the aisle from hers. She was further surprised to find that the woman in the aisle seat was Faith, the rather mysterious and dangerous woman she'd met earlier, who, to all appearances, appeared to be sleeping. 

After putting her carry-on and laptop in the overhead compartment, Lara turned to Faith and was about to wake her to take care of unfinished business when she was interrupted by the sound of someone quietly clearing their throat. 

"I wouldn't disturb her." the taller young woman in the window seat next to Faith advised, closing a thick book that Lara could have sworn was written in Sanskrit. "There are some things you just don't interrupt Faith doing. If you value your life anyway. Sleeping is one of them." 

"What are the others, besides food?" Lara asked curiously. Having seen Faith in action, she could easily guess that food was one of them but any others probably required a lot better knowledge of the potentially dangerous woman than she possessed. 

The other woman, a brunette, giggled. "That would be one of them. The other two are classic Faith favorites," She lowered her voice, "sex and violence. Just don't tell anyone I told you. I'm not supposed to know that about her." 

A low voice muttered "I heard that." 

"Faith!" she squeaked in surprise. "You're not going to tell anyone are you? They'll ship me off to a convent!" 

"No. But I can't make any promises for Lady Croft." she replied without opening either eye. 

"Lady Croft?" The young woman stared at her for a moment before turning back to Lara. "You took those pictures?" 

"Possibly." Lara looked at the two women with some confusion. 

"Yes, Dawn. That's her." Faith said, opening both eyes and sitting up, obviously having given up on her nap. 

"Cool! Did you give her a copy of the translation of the prophecy from the altar?" she asked, eagerly looking back at Faith. "Can I?" 

"No, and you'll have to ask Giles about that when we get to the London office." Faith told her. 

"Sorry." Dawn said to Lara with a disappointed expression. 

"That's okay, I can wait." Lara took her seat across the aisle. "But neither of us is dead." she now addressed Faith. "So I believe I'm still owed an explanation for what happened the other night." 

Faith raised an eyebrow at the pronouncement. "Nothing much to it. They had a ghost problem. We heard about it, I took care of it. And you got some pretty pictures to look at." 

Lara gave Faith the look she usually reserved for Bryce when he was being difficult. To her surprise Faith merely winked at her. 

"Faith! That makes it sound like you took out the trash!" Dawn whined. 

"That's another way to put it." she grinned. 

"Can I tell her then? I know I wasn't there but Willow showed me the tape she made from the things Lady Croft's cameras recorded." 

"Go ahead." Faith reluctantly answered. "Just leave out the usual." 

"Okay, got it. No destiny and no Council." She tried to shift so she could see Lara while she was talking. 

"Dawn is it?" At her nod Lara continued. "Why don't you wait until we're in the air. Then you can sit over here." She gestured at the empty seat next to her. 

"Cool" From the way Dawn smiled at the suggestion Lara had to revise her estimate of her age. She couldn't be as old as she looked. 

* * *

After Dawn had moved across the aisle and they'd been served drinks by the flight attendant, Lara asked her to begin after checking to see if Faith was awake. 

"She's not really asleep yet." Dawn gestured subtly to Faith. "But she will be in a minute. She was in Detroit when we heard about your ghosts last week and she had to go back to finish up there before she met me in Boston today. All that travelling can wear you out, even someone like her." 

Lara looked at her in surprise. "You heard about these ghosts last week?" 

"Yeah. We sort of keep an eye out for things like that." Dawn shrugged. "You'd be surprised how often stuff like that happens. Keeps us busy." 

"So you do the same things as Faith?" 

"Oh. No. My sister won't let me and besides, Faith has some unique skills I don't have." She looked over at Faith again. "I just do research, translations, that sort of thing. When I'm not in class anyway." 

"So what really happened?" 

"Well, for one thing it wasn't really ghosts." 

"I'd actually figured that out." Lara smiled. "The few ghosts I've run into don't do things like that." 

"We were a bit suspicious also. It was actually one of those doomsday cults that were wandering around a couple years ago." 

"Doomsday cult? You mean those people who sat around and waited for the world to end when it became 2000?" 

"Yes. Sort of. These guys thought the calendar was wrong. They also thought they would help things along." She looked closely at Lara. "And they weren't exactly people." 

"So all of that chanting they were doing was supposed to end the world." She let the rest of it pass without asking what she meant by that. If they weren't human Lara wasn't sure she wanted to know what they really were. 

"Yes. Kind of silly actually. Ending the world takes a bit more than that." 

"You've seen people try to end the world before?" 

"Yes. I've got personal experience with that kind of thing." She grimaced and rubbed her stomach. "Fortunately, we normally hear about such things before they can get very far." 

"So Faith stopped them from ending the world? Does she do it that often?" 

"It's one of her specialties. I think she was a bit disappointed it was over so quick. And even if they'd finished their ceremony the world wouldn't have ended. They had the correct date but they were in the wrong place. They misread their prophecy. They needed a druidic sacrificial altar in North America. The one they were using was neolithic. Or at least a fake neolithic altar. So it wasn't real anyway." 

"Okay. So that is all fake?" Lara had been suspicious. The site hadn't quite felt right when she'd first visited it. 

"Yes." Dawn laughed. "The real one is somewhere in western Canada. The one in New Hampshire was built by someone who saw it. In the journals I've seen he never really explains why he did it." 

"What about the druidic altar they were supposed to use? Does that actually exist?" 

"We're not really sure yet." she shrugged again. "We have a couple people looking for it now but there isn't any record of druidic activity in North America. If they find it we'll keep an eye on it." 

* * *

Lara spent the next several hours discussing some of her other adventures with Dawn who seemed very interested in the traps and puzzles she'd run across in different ancient ruins. Eventually they both settled in and joining the rest of First Class, sleeping for the rest of the trip and not waking until the plane landed at Heathrow. 

On the way out of London, watching the early sunrise as Hillary drove her home, Lara wondered if she would see either of them again and realized that even with all of the talking she'd done on the plane she still didn't know a lot about either of the two women or whom they worked for. They'd been very circumspect about some things. She had several additional names to give Bryce and some idea of what their organization seemed to do but everything else was too vague to tell her much. 

* * *

A week later a slim package arrived at Croft Manor. Inside were several photographs, a letter, and a two page document. Most of the photographs seemed to be of her, taken when she was wearing her body-suit at the site in North Salem, with no indication of who had taken them. The last three were a surprise. They were of several large stones, one laying flat in a manner similar to an altar, taken from several angles. 

The document consisted of one page covered in what looked to Lara like Ogam, a language she was only slightly familiar with. The other page appeared to be some prophecy about the end of the world with comments in the margins explaining several points. 

Lara opened the letter, hoping it explained the other items. A business card similar to the one Faith had given her but with a different name and e-mail address fell out of the envelope. She had had some idea who had sent it but the package had been delivered by a courier who wouldn't tell Hillary who it was from. This confirmed it. 

- 
    
    
    _
     Lady Croft,
    
     We thought you would appreciate the pictures. Faith took 
     the ones of you. I won't repeat what she said about them but I 
     believe it was a compliment. The other pictures are of what we
     believe to be the druidic site on the east coast of Canada.
    
     I've included the original prophecy with the translation. It 
     appears to be longer than the one the cult had. Their's appears
     to be missing several passages that I've noted on the translation,
     probably explaining how they ended up in the wrong place. If you 
     need any help in the future please let us know at the address on my card.
    
     Dawn Summers 
    _
    

- 

"Well Hillary?" She asked after showing him the letter. 

"Interesting... And for some reason her name seems awfully familiar." 

"It does, doesn't it." Lara said contemplatively. 

* * *

**Notes:**

**AN-1:**Most of the places mentioned in this fic do actually exist, though to the best of my knowledge neither Faith nor Lara Croft have ever been to them. Links can be found on my weblog.  
**AN-2:**This takes place in my 'Red Raider' AU/Crossover Universe between the _Prologue_ and _Girl in a Bar_ but can be read independantly. Those stories can be found on 'Twisting the Hellmouth' and my weblog (The link is in my profile)  
**AN-3:** Feedback appreciated as always.  



	2. China Blonde

**Disclaimer:** This is a derivative work using characters and intellectual property belonging to  
Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, Fox Television, and Eidos and probably others.  
**When/Spoilers:** Post BtVS Season 7 / Tomb Raider (post AoD and CoL)  
**Rating:** PG-13 for Action Violence   
**Distribution:** TtH, atbvs.creative, ff.net, my blog fanfic pages. Otherwise-ask.   
**AN:** See end of chapter for any notes 

* * *

**Part I** - Vampires 

The low growl behind her didn't give Lara enough warning to do more than duck. And that wasn't good enough as a massive blow to her back sent her flying into one of the terra cotta statues lining the immense burial chamber. Scrambling to keep her balance among the falling clay warriors as her torch flew out of her hand, she felt something tearing at her back, grabbing for her pack. Turning and kicking behind her in a fluid motion, graceful even on the rapidly shifting floor, the sound of crunching bone echoed in the room as Lara's foot connected with something large and solid that howled in surprise. 

Instinctively turning her kick into a sideways roll away from the growling creature, Lara found herself in a small, dark, enclosed space that even the non-claustrophobic would have found daunting. In a well practiced move, Lara reached behind her back and grabbed a flare from her pack with one hand while pulling a pistol out of its holster with the other. Striking it on the wall to light it and throwing it in front of her, she waited, the sharp white light from the flare driving her assailants back into the dark. 

Surrounding her was a small group of growling creatures, with their ridged foreheads, yellow eyes glinting in the low light, and fangs setting them apart from normal humans. Cursing under her breath Lara looked for a way out. Her pistol wasn't going to do her much good, As satisfying as it would be to use it, with the memory of the vibration and smell of her favorite weapon in action bringing her comfort, and she thought about how it had extracted her from numerous past impossible situations, it would only make them angry if she missed. And even if she didn't miss only a lucky hit would slow a vampire down. Other things would actually be more effective but she would have to get a lot closer to the vampires than she liked for her flares to be useful. She swore again, this time in frustration. 

Reviewing in her head the path she'd taken to get into this part of the tomb, she prepared for her next move. She had to get out into the open where she had a better chance. Out of the tomb before her flares ran out. 

Tensing slightly, she picked out the vampires she would have to get through if she expected to have any hope of surviving the next few minutes. Grabbing another flare out of her pack, Lara lit it and started shooting and running towards her targets. 

Things were going in her favor as she jumped over the two surprised vampires she'd crippled with her first shots, lying there howling and clutching the remains of their knees. She swung the flare in her other hand, connecting with another vampire as it made a grab for her, setting it on fire. She couldn't run for long but for now she had a good lead on the creatures chasing her. And some times that was all she needed. 

Her lead was gone faster than she expected. Fifty meters down the passageway to the surface and they were already breathing down her neck. There was no time to think. She needed breathing room. Instinctively she headed down a side tunnel towards one of the traps she'd successfully navigated earlier in the day while exploring the caverns in search of the main chamber of the emperor's tomb. If she could draw her pursuers into a trap and further reduce their numbers it would improve her chances of surviving. 

Without pausing, Lara launched herself across a break in the passageway floor. On the other side of the gap she stomped on the floor trigger and dove to her right, out of the way of the large stone balls that came rushing down the tunnel, crushing everything in their path. Grabbing a low hanging vine, Lara pulled herself up through a hole in the ceiling into the next tomb level, hopefully unobserved by her pursuers. 

It wasn't fear that kept her moving as she reached the limits of her endurance. She was no longer breathing easily. Her legs ached and her throat was raw. Her few friends would have said she was too stubborn to give in. Her many enemies would say she was too mean. If asked she would have told all of them that they were wrong. From the moment she began her mad dash to the surface, Lara focused all of her attention on surviving, with no room left over for fear or doubt. She'd faced worse odds in her long career. 

Reaching the end of the current tunnel, Lara cautiously inched her head out into a small chamber with two other exits. It was deceptively quiet. Just as she was about to move forward something slammed into her from behind, knocking her to the ground in an agonizing heap. 

Hanging desperately onto her flare, Lara rolled to her feet with her back to the chamber. Standing in the small tunnel she'd just been propelled from was a small vampire in a ragged People's Army uniform. It smiled, baring its fangs, as several larger vampires joined it in blocking Lara's escape route. Surrounding her, they stood just out of reach of her now sputtering flare. 

Reacting quickly, before it went out, Lara swung the flare at the closest vampire. Turning her forward motion into a spinning side kick, she knocked over the vampire next to the one that had dodged out of her way giving herself a little more room to maneuver in the center of the chamber. 

Dropping the flare several feet in front of her position, Lara pulled her long knife from its sheath and lit another flare, her last. Growling, the closest of the five creatures in front of her stepped back. She didn't know how long she could hold them off but it was clear that running was not an option unless she could reduce their numbers. 

In an unfamiliar dialect, the uniformed vampire, still standing back in the small tunnel facing Lara, encouraged the vampires surrounding her to attack. 

Within seconds Lara became the center of a small maelstrom. Kicking and slashing at everything in range. Connecting occasionally. Ducking and weaving between her foes. Getting lucky. Pulling loose from grasping claws. Setting fire to several of them. Grimacing as the rest of the vampires joined the fight. 

Concentrating on the feel of her knife as it sliced through the neck of a creature that came too close, she slipped into that mental place where she became the embodiment of her actions. No thought, just emotion guided by instinct. Training driving her to the edge of endurance. Attacking whichever creature was within range. Tasting blood when a fist connected with her face. Being thrown into the rock wall and fighting back with the ingrained fury of desperation. 

The fight lasted both an eternity and less than five minutes. When it was over all that remained was dust hanging in the still air of the passageway, illuminated with a redish glow by her flares, still burning, the smell of lingering death, and the scowling, uniformed vampire. 

She started as clapping echoed in the chamber. The exhausted tomb raider kept her eyes on the creature in front of her. She tensed when a small arrow sprouted from its chest and it turned to dust in obvious surprise. 

"As amazing as that performance was, it would probably be a good idea to leave now." said a light voice behind her. 

Lara turned towards the voice. Standing in the tunnel that led towards the surface was the unexpected sight of a small, young blonde woman dressed entirely in dark leather, flanked on both sides by two even younger, similarly dressed women. 

* * *

**Part II** - Blondes and Apocalypses 

Lara shook her head and closed her eyes. This was not a sight she expected to see deep in an out of the way tomb. A leather clad blonde and two women who would have looked at home in the Imperial City if they weren't also dressed in leather. They were still there when she reopened her eyes, their presence projecting into the chamber like a raw, perfume laden wind. She shook off the weariness in her shoulders and legs but stayed where she was. 

"Who are you?" she asked. She'd met the blonde before, somewhere. But she couldn't quite recall where or even her name. 

Ignoring her question, the blonde sighed and said something that Lara didn't catch to one of her companions who immediately started walking towards Lara with an almost hypnotic stride. 

"We really don't have time for this." She paused and tilted her head as if listening to some distant conversation. "We'll have company in a minute. If you're injured or are too tired to walk Yumiko can help you." 

The young woman now standing in front of her inclined her head slightly and smiled at her at the mention of her name. 

"No. I can walk." Lara slipped her knife back into its sheath and picked up the flare she'd dropped during the fight. 

"Good." And the blonde and the third woman, whom Lara now noticed was brandishing a small crossbow, slipped back into the tunnel, heading towards the surface. Lara followed, with the one called Yumiko bringing up the rear. 

**- - -**

As she silently followed, Lara surreptitiously studied the two women quickly moving up the passageway in front of her and the third following behind her. She still couldn't place the blonde but there was something enticingly familiar about the way they all moved. In the few short minutes she'd been with them she could tell that even though all three of them looked like they should be dancing the night away in some nightclub, they were very dangerous women, moving like natural predators in the dim light. 

Lara couldn't quite shake the feeling that she'd fallen in with something a lot more threatening than the vampires she'd fought earlier. If she had to she would fight them but she wasn't sure she could win. 

Her thoughts came to a screeching halt when the blonde stopped suddenly. 

"We have company." she said. The other two nodded and Lara glanced around not seeing anything. 

"We'll do this in pairs." Pointing at Lara the blonde continued. "Xia, stay with her and keep an eye behind us. Yumiko and I will take care of whatever is in front of us. Any questions?" 

Lara was grateful for the dim light. As exhausting as her running fight with the earlier vampires had been she wasn't thrilled with being assigned a babysitter and she was sure her face showed it. 

"Weapons? I'm all out of flares and ammunition and my knife wasn't doing a whole lot of good against them earlier." she asked. 

"We'll take care of the difficult ones. Just stick with Xia until we can get out." 

Xia handed her a sharp piece of wood and smiled at her. "Stab them in the heart." 

Lara examined the piece of wood. It was smooth and sharp and felt comfortable in her hand, like a well balanced knife. 

Continuing down the passage, they came to a door with a faint red light coming out of it. From its appearance Lara assumed they'd arrived at the tomb's anteroom. If she was correct the exit was less than one hundred meters away. The blonde paused for a moment and became infinitely still. She held up a single finger and motioned to door. 

Lara could sense a calmness radiating from her as she nodded to the others and entered the room stepping quickly to her left. There was a dull thump and a brief shower of dust in the dim light. The others slipped into the room behind her. 

**- - -**

The anteroom wasn't very large. The room was bathed in a red glow from several torches along the left wall. Looking around, Lara quickly counted nine vampires facing them. 

As soon as the vampires spotted the women the room erupted in violence. Almost too quickly for Lara to follow, the three women were engaging the vampires in battle. The vampires seemed to be focusing on the two women in front but they were clearly outmatched. 

There wasn't much time to watch the others as Lara quickly found herself once more fighting for her life. There wasn't much room to maneuver as she ducked the punches from the vampire attacking her. She hadn't completely recovered from her earlier fight and knew she couldn't keep this up for long. The vampires she'd fought before must have been young or weak she thought. She couldn't seem to get past this one's defences and she knew it was only moments before it had her. 

Lara put everything she had into one last desperate attempt to stop it. Following a flurry of punching and kicking she dropped down and rolled to one side as she kicked upward, knocking the vampire off of its feet. Before it could react she drove the stake into its heart. 

Sitting back on her heels and shaking from the burst of adrenalin, Lara looked around in an attempt to assess the situation. The other women were just finishing subduing the remaining vampires. And just like that, when it looked like they had survived the onslaught two things happened. 

The large creature blocking the tomb exit lumbered over to the blonde just as she drove her stake into a large vampire, swinging a very large axe at her head from behind with no visible warning. Somehow, in a fantastic maneuver Lara knew must have really hurt, the blonde was able to duck under the swing, dive between the creature's legs and kick up at it, knocking it over onto her. 

As it fell, a dozen more vampires charged into the anteroom engaging Lara and the other two women before they had a chance to rescue her from the creature. The three women found themselves effectively surrounded, leaving the fourth to fight the large creature by herself. 

Lara was too busy trying to stay alive to have much time to wonder about the fate of the blonde. If she had been alone it would have been long over. She was aware of the other two desperately fighting by her side, protecting her from the more aggressive vampires. Lara's entire world became a deadly dance where she was one of the minor players. So it was a complete shock to see her framed in the cloud of dust that had been the vampire Lara was fighting. 

The remaining vampires seemed to suddenly lose any desire to stay and fight with the appearance of the blonde and faded back into the tunnels. Looking around, Lara saw the creature that had been fighting the blonde slumped, headless, in a far corner. 

"That was enough exercise for now." The blonde shrugged her shoulders and stretched as she spoke. "Let's get out of here." 

All four women scrambled through the rubble filled entrance out into the morning sun. 

* * *

**Part III** - Dragon Hunt 

The glare from the rising sun was blinding as Lara climbed out of the narrow tomb entrance. The smell of burning rubber and plastic hit her in the slight breeze. Looking towards the ridge where she'd parked her jeep, Lara could see dark smoke rising from a mass of charred metal. 

Noticing the direction of her gaze, the now recognizable blonde gave her a sympathetic look and said "That's what brought us here. We were headed up the valley when we saw it burning and stopped to check it out. None of your things survived. Sorry." 

Groaning in dismay, Lara pulled her cell phone out of a pocket to give Bryce a call, only to find it hadn't survived the trip into the tomb. She couldn't remember anything getting that close but it must have been destroyed by a glancing blow at some point in the long fighting. 

"So... Miss Summers, do you have a phone I could borrow?" Lara asked her, making it clear she recognized the blonde. 

"Buffy, please." she said after acknowledging Lara's request. "Lady Croft, just a second." She pressed several buttons on the phone before handing it to Lara. "That'll give you a secure line to our Tokyo office. Just enter your number and the switchboard will forward your call from there." 

Lara raised an eyebrow at that and she shrugged before explaining. 

"The Chinese government has this annoying habit of monitoring our calls when we're here. Not a big deal for us. It's to their benefit to not interfere with us but you probably don't want to draw their attention if you were doing what I think you were doing." 

"Thanks." Lara looked at the unfamiliar phone for a moment, noting the only identifying mark on the nondescript device was a small embossed number and a familiar symbol that looked like an hourglass. She filed this information away for later consideration. 

After telling Lara they would be leaving in a couple minutes, Buffy and the other two women moved further down the hill to give her some privacy for her call. 

"Bryce? This is Lara. No, this isn't my phone. It and the rest of my equipment seem to have suffered from a major malfunction." 

"Yes, everything except for my clothes back at the hotel. If you could let Hillary know that I'll need another vehicle sent over to my hotel? Yes, that also. I can pick everything else up at the usual place tomorrow." Suddenly it occurred to her where she'd seen that symbol on the phone before. "And could you tell Hillary that I seem to have run into several women from that research company from last spring? Yes. When I was in the States investigating that ghost. And one of them is the short blonde from Sunnydale. He'll know whom I mean." 

Lara noticed her companions starting to get restless. 

"It looks like I have to go now if I don't want to walk back to the hotel. Yes. It looks like we're finally getting enough information to start connecting the dots. I'll tell you both about it tonight." 

**- - -**

Closing the phone, Lara followed the other women down the hill, catching up with them as they reached a dirt road and started to get into a rugged looking all terrain vehicle she didn't recognize. 

"We can give you a ride if you don't mind waiting while we make several stops. You probably don't want to walk from here." Buffy commented as she climbed into the front passenger seat. 

"Okay." Lara said, following the young woman, referred to earlier as Yumiko, into the back seat. She wasn't about to pass up an opportunity to learn more about these women. 

Buffy turned and watched her expectantly from the front while the third young woman started the vehicle and headed them further up the valley. 

Lara raised an eyebrow at this attention. 

"Lady Croft, I'm sure you have questions for us." she smiled encouragingly at Lara. 

"While we've met, I don't believe you've really introduced your companions." Lara asked in an attempt to confirm names she'd heard earlier when they were in the tomb. 

"This is Xia." Buffy gestured at the woman driving. "And that's Yumiko in the back with you." 

"Oh." Lara wasn't sure what to make of the lack of surnames for the other women. "Do you have a younger sister? Dawn?" 

Buffy raised an eyebrow herself at the obviously unexpected question. "Yes." 

"I believe I met her last spring." Lara frowned. "She was travelling with someone else from your organization. I believe her name was Faith. An unusual woman." 

"Yes. Faith does work with us. One of our senior people." Buffy frowned. "That must have been right after she helped you with that ghost problem." 

"Yes. She seems to be very enthusiastic about some things." Lara frowned as she thought about her own reaction to Faith. "She's very overwhelming when she's in the middle of something. You can't help letting her take charge." 

Buffy grinned and leaned over and said something to Xia, too low for Lara to catch, causing her to giggle. "That's one way to describe the Faith experience. She has that kind of effect even on those of us who have known her for years." 

"Do you all work together?" she asked curiously. 

"I drop in occasionally. Xia grew up near here and works with Yumiko in our Tokyo office." 

When she stopped, Lara noticed that Buffy hadn't said anything that really explained her own presence. "What brings you here?" 

"Just the usual. Things were a bit slow in Tokyo this week and the local government requested help with a small problem so we thought we would check it out." She shrugged. "They can be a bit prickly but they're good people once you get past the whole 'my culture is older than your culture' thing some of them have going. And they normally only ask for our assistance when it is something they really can't handle." 

**- - -**

An hour north of the tomb they'd rescued Lara from, Xia pulled onto a narrow, stone paved road. Barely a kilometer later the road terminated in front of a pair of large stone doors. 

"This is our first stop." Buffy told Lara. "They'll tell us what we need to know for our next stop. If you don't mind waiting here? They are expecting only the three of us." 

"Okay." Lara tried not to sound too disappointed as she watched the other women remove several weapons from the back. 

They'd been gone almost an hour and Lara was starting to consider going in after them when the stone gate opened and the three women reappeared. Returning their weapons to the back they climbed back in without saying anything to Lara. 

They'd been travelling for ten minutes before Buffy broke the silence. 

"That was a bit disappointing." she said with an exasperated sigh. "A little better communication could have saved us a trip. Not that I'm not glad we helped you with your small vampire problem, Lady Croft, but it looks like there was no real reason for all three of us to be here. From the description, Xia could have handled things all by herself." 

"I won't complain about your assistance," Lara said, "but I was wondering why you were here." 

"Well... that..." She pointed back the way they'd come, "is a temple dedicated to the Yangtzee River spirit. Someone seems to have kidnapped their sacred mascott and they can't bless the dam for the coming year without it. Someone in Bejing misunderstood the request for help. They thought it was the end of the world and asked for our help in stopping it." 

"You do that often? Stop the world from ending?" 

"Only the mystical, apocalyptic kinds of world endings. We don't usually get involved in apocalyptic pet-nappings." Buffy rolled her eyes at Yumiko's giggle. 

"What kind of pet?" Lara asked curiously. 

"Some kind of large lizard. What did they call it?" 

"Gong Fu" Xia answered. 

Lara blinked in surprise. "They named a lizard after one of the nine Sons of the Dragon?" 

"Yes. Xia thinks it might actually be a real dragon." Buffy grinned, seemingly amused at the thought. "This might take a while but you're welcome to come with us and find out if she's right. Or we can take you back to your hotel." 

Lara didn't have to think very hard about this. If it really was a dragon it would be worth seeing. If it wasn't she would have longer to observe these young women. "I'll go with you." 

"Great! You'll want to wear this. It's from the temple." She handed Lara a small bronze amulet on a silver chain. "The 'dragon' won't go with us, once we find it, unless we're all wearing one." 

Lara examined it before putting it on but couldn't see anything special about it. 

"Did they say how it works?" 

"No. I'm assuming some kind of magic." She shrugged. "And magic types tend to get anxious if you question them about how they did something and things can go a bit wonky. So we didn't bother asking." 

"How are we going to find this so-called dragon?" 

"They gave Xia a charmed compass that is supposed to point right at it." 

As they continued into the hills above the river, Lara hoped the vague feelings of impending disaster she was feeling were wrong. 

* * *

**Part IV** - Headed Home 

The road they'd been following since lunch came to an abrupt end in a stand of pine trees. The compass had directed them to it in a small village in the hills above the Yangtzee and while at times it had resembled a goat path more than a road they'd still managed to coax their vehicle up it. 

"Lady Croft..." Buffy began as she started to climb out of the vehicle while Xia and Yumiko rummaged around in the back. 

"Lara." 

"Lara. You really don't have to come with us past this point. If this turns out to be dangerous you probably shouldn't get involved." 

"I've come this far and I'm really curious about what you'll find." Lara shook her head. "I'm also quite capable of taking care of myself." 

"Okay, but I would appreciate it if you stayed back until we've cleared anything we find. Our boss would be upset with us if we let you get killed, even if it was your own idea." 

"Not a problem. If I get killed it won't be your fault. I can even call someone and tell them if you would like me to." 

Buffy shook her head. "That won't be necessary." 

"What do you have for weapons?" Lara continued. "I'm assuming you have something better than that stake I was given earlier. You probably don't have any ammunition that would fit my pistol?" she asked hopefully. 

"Sorry, no. No guns or the things used in them. Our operating agreements with the Chinese government don't allow the kind of guns that would be useful against the kinds of things we normally face." Buffy answered in a matter of fact tone, as if reporting the weather. "We do have several kinds of crossbows, knives, and other sharp objects that we've found useful over the years." 

**- - -**

The charmed compass had led them into the center of an ancient stone building. They'd found no sign of any recent occupants and paused for a few moments in the late afternoon sun that flooded the small courtyard they'd found themselves in. 

While the compass continued to indicate that their target was still somewhere in the building, while exploring the rest of the single story structure it had soon become clear it was either well hidden or one of the empty rooms really wasn't. 

"Lara?" a frustrated Buffy asked the renowned adventurer who had followed them around the structure out of curiosity but who hadn't interfered with their explorations. 

"Yes?" 

"Any ideas would be welcome." she grimaced. "If what we are looking for is still here it obviously is going to require someone with your expertise to find it." 

"Well, I don't think you'll find anything in the rooms themselves. Something like this can be a big puzzle. It's the whole building that is the clue to solving it. And if you don't approach it that way it won't make much sense." Lara told them. 

"Okay, Oh Puzzle Mistress," Buffy deferred to her with a bow, "what does the whole thing tell you?" 

Lara grinned at her. The humour occasionally exhibited by the blonde and her cohorts tended to match her own. "This was obviously built by an astrologer. You'll notice that each room has a painting that depicts a sign from the Chinese zodiac and that all but one faces this courtyard. Which happens to be the center of the building." 

"And that one would be?" 

"The dragon." 

"Of course." she sighed. "So does that mean there's an entrance to some other room there?" 

"Possibly. Or there is something else in that room that will tell us what we need to know." 

"Shall we check it out?" 

"It is also almost a guarantee that whatever we find will be a trap." Lara warned her. "So we'll need to be careful." 

Buffy shrugged, "Traps we can deal with." She motioned the other two women to follow Lara. "Let's see what happens." 

**- - -**

Lara hadn't been wrong about a possible trap. When she'd pressed a small depression they'd found in the wall facing the painting, directly opposite the dragon's eyes, the floor had collapsed underneath them, dumping them into a long stone chute that eventually dropped them, covered in dust, in the center of a large, torch lit chamber. 

Quickly standing and gathering anything they'd dropped, they surveyed the room to find themselves surrounded by several vampires and other demons. 

"Welcome to my humble abode, ladies. I wasn't expecting such illustrious guests." a harsh voice announced from one side of the chamber. "You're just in time for the final ceremony." 

"I hate when that happens." Lara heard Buffy mutter. "I bet he's planning on ending the world." 

"Buffy?" 

"Yes, Xia?" 

She pointed with the compass towards a small cage next to a small, blood encrusted altar, across the chamber from the large shrouded figure that had spoken to them. "Our dragon seems to be over there." 

"Okay, why don't you help Lady Croft get it out of that cage and then find us a way out of here while Yumiko and I distract them." And with a sureness that spoke of greater planning than Lara was sure had occurred, Buffy and Yumiko charged towards the large creature. Lara simultaneously found herself being pulled towards the cage by Xia. 

The fight didn't last very long. Xia was able to quickly eliminate the vampires and demon guarding the cage before Lara had a chance to open it. 

As soon as the cage door was open a long flowing creature had poured out and wrapped itself sari-like around Lara. "Xia, it looks like you were correct." she said as she found herself looking into the eyes of a small Imperial Chinese dragon. 

**- - -**

Lara found the rest of the dragon retrieval to be anticlimactic. Buffy and Yumiko seemed almost disappointed at the quickness with which they had dealt with the demon that had been holding the dragon captive. Lara only wondered briefly about that, the dragon seemed to occupy most of her thoughts. 

Leaving the underground chamber carrying the dragon and the scraps of ancient documents they found scattered near the remains of the demon after the fight proved to be the most challenging part of the rescue. 

The trip back to the temple with the dragon, while not stressful, provided its own amusements. Although the dragon clung to Lara during the trip, it spent the entire time staring at Buffy and ignoring the fascinated Xia and Yumiko. 

The monks who'd met them at the temple gate were able to coax the dragon loose from Lara, leaving her shivering in the damp early evening air. 

"I think that does it for this trip." Buffy announced as they all climbed back into their vehicle. "Lara, let's get you back to your hotel and then we need to head back to Tokyo." 

**- - -**

Several days later, headed home in disappointment at a trip that following the dragon rescue had become suddenly bogged down in unavoidable red tape, Lara had plenty to think about. It had taken a long conversation with Hillary and Bryce the previous night for all of the information to sink in but she was starting to get some idea of who these women were and what they did. The why still seemed shrouded from her but she knew she would find that out eventually. 

She wondered how often she'd just missed running into them in the past. This was the second time she'd encountered them when her path collided with creatures she'd once thought were mythical like demons, vampires, and now dragons. Sure, she'd fought the occasional minor deity or magic user in her long career as a tomb raider but this was different. They seemed to do it as if it weren't anything extraordinary. 

And they weren't ordinary. She'd seen them fighting against creatures even she wouldn't willing face, expecting to win. Their fighting skills outmatched anything she'd seen before. The few glimpses she'd had of them while she was fighting had been amazing. She'd dealt with commandos and other hand-to-hand combat specialists with decades of experience who would have been hard put to match them. 

But they couldn't be doing it alone. Somewhere in the background was some shadowy organization that kept them going. And she wasn't sure she approved. The secret organizations she'd had experience with usually didn't work for the best interest of others. 

She shook her head at the image of a girl powered society of monster hunters. While close encounters with death did bring out her inner philosopher, she was probably reading too much into her brief encounters with these young women. The few she'd seen in action didn't seem to be the kind of people who would tolerate being manipulated for long. 

* * *

** Author's Notes:**  
**AN-1: **This is a short experiment in writing Lara Croft in several action scenes. This one came together very slowly. Action really isn't my thing. The fact that it works at all is due to action-writing advice I received over at alt.fan.lara-croft from several excellent 'Croftian Chroniclers'  
**AN-2: **Takes place between Part 7 and the Epilogue to my story _Girl in a Bar_ which can be found over at TtH.  
**AN-3:** Although I don't have an official beta, 'thecynic1' kept me on my toes during the gestation of this fic on my blog. Thanks :-).   
**AN-4:** Background on the Chinese Zodiac... I had to look this stuff up... so it might be wrong if my sources are incorrect. But lets pretend for now that it is correct.  
- Buffy's Chinese Zodiac element = Metal, sign=monkey, yin = Ka'no-to Saru (She should have an affinity with dragons (or is that people with the dragon sign?) if I understand the stuff I read correctly.)  
- Lara's = fire, goat, yin = Hino-to Hitsuji  
**AN-5:**Dragon names - KungFu, Gong Fu, and Baxia seem to be the same Son of the Dragon (there are nine in Chinese myth)(This is the one who liked water)  
**AN-6:** Feedback always welcome.  



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